Bleeding Love
by AnnDee
Summary: Gigi finally tells Rex the truth about their son. BALSCO


"Bleeding Love"

By: CarlyMorgan

Rating: PG

Summary: Gigi tells Rex the truth.

AN: Lyrics by Ryan Tedder and Jesse McCartney

AN2: Written before the actual reveal, but I waited for my fabulous beta, LadyStarlight.

_Closed off from love  
I didn't need the pain  
Once or twice was enough  
And it was all in vain  
Time starts to pass  
Before you know it you're frozen_

Her heart had been frozen, in a way, for 10 years. She thought it was permanently chilled solid and to everyone, the moment she realized that Rex wasn't coming back. But then, then her son was in her arms and looking so much like his father, all she could feel was this rush of warmth and her world seem to have purpose again. Shane.

But it remained frozen to romantic love. Any girl in her right mind would have fallen in love with Brody. A good man willing to raise another man's child, claim the child as his own and marry her. But her heart was cold to that love. When it came to men, her heart had iced over when Rex had disappeared.

The climate changed in Gigi's heart when she got to work at the Bonjour and heard the "Morasco" she hadn't heard except in her dreams in almost 11 years. Her heart was no longer iced up and unmoving.

_But I don't care what they say  
I'm in love with you  
They try to pull me away  
But they don't know the truth_

Adriana, Layla, Brody, and others tried to keep Gigi and Rex from falling back and even further in love with each other, but all their scheming and lying did nothing to keep these two hearts from finding each other again. It was serendipitous. The only thing their machinations brought those trying to keep the two former lovers apart was separation and heartache.

However, Adrian was gone, Brody was gone, and Gigi was sitting next to Rex at his loft, preparing herself to finally tell the man the truth about her son, their son. It was with this revelation that Gigi realized those wanting them apart may just get their wish.

_My heart's crippled by the vein  
That I keep on closing_

Rex opened the door, his smile wide and his blue eyes twinkled as his gaze rests upon Gigi, "Morasco, what's up?" _Can I just kiss you? I hope that's why you're here._

"Can I come in, Balsom?" Gigi bit her bottom lip and her hazel eyes darted around the room as he stepped aside and she stepped inside.

Rex's goofy grin disappeared as he sensed her unease, "Is something wrong, Morasco?"

Gigi looked down at her hands, fiddling with them, not turning around to face him, "Yes, and no…Rex there's something I have to tell you, and…you're probably going to hate me for it."

Rex stayed silent as his eyes narrowed, looking at Gigi's back as she took a deep breath.

Gigi turned around and looked up at him, "I lied to you. I lied to you, Rex."

_You cut me open_

Her words make him feel like a thousand tiny needles are being pressed simultaneously into his heart. She'd lied to him, like everyone else he'd cared about. _Please…no._ "Lied to me about what?" He asked softly.

Tears started to fall from hazel eyes, "About Shane."

_Damn it, I want to wipe her tears and hold her_. Rex internally battled with his instincts. Caution won out and he stayed put, "What about Shane?"

"Brody isn't his father, Rex…I was never with Brody that way…I've only ever been with one person, ever." Gigi admitted with a raspy voice.

_Keep bleeding  
Keep, keep bleeding love_

His world, the whole world, could have crashed down, and he wouldn't have noticed. The only thought drumming in his mind was the realization that his first instinct when he'd met the young boy had been right. _I have a son_.

The silence in the room was louder than any howl could be and Gigi just wanted to twist up and die. She could see in his eyes that he knew the truth, and the pain that followed nearly suffocated her. She'd done this to him.

_Keep bleeding  
Keep, keep bleeding love  
You cut me open_

_Oh God, I want to die…it hurts so much_. Rex fisted his hands and pounded them into the wall. How could she do this to him? She was the one person who was never going to hurt him. He looked over at her, tears falling from her eyes, the apology in her eyes. But it doesn't matter. He doesn't want an apology right now, it won't fix this.

"I…I can tell you're mad at me and you-" Gigi began.

"MAD? Furious is more like it Morasco! I HAVE A SON!" He bellowed. She really shouldn't have spoken, "SHANE is my son, and you lied to me, kept me from finding out the truth. I even asked if he was my son and you said NO!"

Gigi flinched, not because she was scared of him, but because she was afraid of his pain, of her own, "I know…and I know sorry won't ever be enough. I was wrong, but I tried to tell you. I DID TELL YOU…but you had your headphones on and didn't even hear a word I said and then again at your wedding but Brody came back and then…then I couldn't shatter Shane like that."

"So you tell me now, now that Brody turned out to be a total jerk and fell from his pedestal Shane put him on because of all the stories you told!"

"No, no I'm telling you now because Shane was finally ready for you to know. He knows Rex, Shane knows you're really his father and has for a few weeks now. He wants you Rex, he wants you as a father-" She gasped and hiccupped through her confession, the tears driving down her face.

Rex walked over to the door and threw it open, cutting her off, "GET OUT!! GET OUT MORASCO…Before I say something I'll regret."

_Trying hard not to hear  
But they talk so loud  
Their piercing sounds fill my ears  
Try to fill me with doubt  
Yet I know that their goal  
Is to keep me from falling_

He spent the next two days walking around like a zombie, trying to piece together his heart, to keep his heart unmoving and closed to what it was trying to tell him. Everything logical told him that Gigi didn't deserve a second chance, didn't deserve to own his now icy heart. She lied to him, hidden the truth from him, and kept his son from him.

Rex paused as he walked through Angel Square. _His son, Shane_.

He wanted, no needed, to go see his son. In all this pain of being lied to he'd forgotten what truth had been revealed, the wonderful truth.

He did an about face and headed to his car. His son was going to know that he wanted him.

_But nothing's greater  
Than the rush that comes with your embrace_

Gigi felt her heart stop as she saw who was on the other side of the door. It began to pound in her ears as she opened the door, "Bal-"

"Is Shane home?" Rex asked, interrupting her. _God, it hurts to look at her. She's so beautiful_.

Gigi stood aside and let him enter before closing the door and calling up the stairs, "SHANE!" She paused and looked at Rex, "YOUR DAD IS HERE TO SEE YOU!"

Dad. The word echoed through Rex's mind as Shane came down the stairs, stopping in the middle and looking down at his father.

Father and son stared at each other, their confused emotions clearly written in their identical eyes.

No one had spoken for many minutes as Gigi looked between her son and the man she loved. She turned to leave and give them some time when she heard Rex finally speak.

"You once said that you thought I would be a good Dad." Rex began, "When you said that…I was wishing I was your Dad, that you were mine because I loved you then." His voice caught with emotions and he cleared it as his eyes turned glassy.

Gigi turned back around, watching, her heart pounding, aching for both Shane and Rex.

"I love you now too, even more because now I know I'm allowed to and I don't have to wish anymore…Shane, I don't know how good of a- OOF." Rex gasped as Shane's little body barreled into him, his little arms wrapping around Rex's waist. Rex felt lighter and like the world was beginning to right itself as his son held onto him.

_And in this world of loneliness  
I see your face_

Gigi watched, tears streaming down her face, but a smile gracing it as well as Rex wrapped his arms around their son in return.

"I love you too…Dad" Shane murmured, his voice gruff with emotion as he clung to Rex.

Rex held the boy tighter as a few errant tears fell and splashed onto the youngster's head. He lifted his eyes and up at Gigi, their eyes locking.

_You cut me open and I_

Keep bleeding  
Keep, keep bleeding love

Hours later, after Rex had tucked his son into bed for the first time, he came down the stairs.

He paused at the bottom.

Gigi was sitting on the couch, holding his old baseball jersey in her hands and he could tell she was crying.

His heart bled. It bled for her and all those years she struggled to raise their son alone. It bled for Shane who had thought his father was one thing, but was something and someone else entirely. It bled for him and the lies he'd had to endure. But mostly, it bled for the fact that all he wanted to do was take this woman in his arms and never let go. She was the only person he could feel completely safe being himself with.

_And it's draining all of me  
Oh they find it hard to believe  
I'll be wearing these scars  
For everyone to see_

_I should just leave. Go and let her cry and feel bad for what she's done._ Rex thought as he watched her. But, he couldn't. He couldn't leave her when she was like this. And, he couldn't blame her. Not anymore. In talking and spending time with Shane, as his father, he'd thought about his past and the things, horrible things, he'd done - the first one being abandoning Gigi without a word. Had he stayed, or even called her to see if she was alright, or say goodbye, to explain, he wouldn't have missed out on a second of his son's life. Or he would have bailed because he was a different person back then. Maybe they'd gone through all this because now he was the man that they needed. _This is just as much my fault as it is Gigi's_.

Suddenly, Rex realized that Gigi was standing in front of him. Wiping the tears from her eyes and wearing one of those Lucille Ball expressions on her face. And just as suddenly, he stepped forward and his lips were on hers, his hands cradling her face.

Gigi felt her world turn upside down, or right itself, as his lips moved over hers, as he held her and for that brief moment, everything seemed alright.

Pulling back, Rex rested his forehead against hers.

"What was that for?" Gigi whispered; her breath across his lips, "I thought you hated me."

"I just realized something, Morasco." Rex murmured, pulling her into a hug.

Gigi smiled nervously against his chest, "What's that, Balsom?"

"I don't think I forgive you yet." He admitted and felt her stiffen in his arms. "But, that doesn't change the fact that I'm in love with you. Your tore my heart out when you told me the truth, but you're also the only one that can put it back in."

_I don't care what they say  
I'm in love with you_


End file.
